By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Tue Dec 18, 2012 at 10:30 AM ET It’s finals week in the Recovering Politician Bowl! The matchups for the Championship, 3rd Place game, and Losers’ Championship are in place and the RP himself has proven why he is our fearless leader – this week his RP Tittles defeated Targaryen 2012, a force to be reckoned with in the regular season, and enters the final week as the heavy favorite to win it all.
His challenger is the underdog Show-Me-Mules, the team that got hot at the absolute right time of the season. Rod Jetton’s team was able to knock off the regular season champ and daughter of the RP – Team Unibrow. This sets up the partisan matchup we were all secretly hoping for as Democrat goes head-to-head versus Republican.
The top two seeds: Team Unibrow and Targaryen 2012 will face off in the 3rd place game this week and Targaryen 2012 will be favored by a bit.
In the Consolation Bracket, Bandits was the strongest team of the week by a wide, wide margin. Bandits will play Augies this week.
Who ya got?
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Dec 17, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET 
#TEAM JYB3:
Day 5 of diet goal of losing 15 pounds (or at least 10)
The importance of small wins in human motivation
When a person sets a goal (like losing 15 pounds or at least 10), they will face obstacles that discourage them. Like actually gaining weight during the prescribed diet time period instead of losing weight.
When that happens, it’s important not to give up but to instead find “small wins” that are positive indications that the person should continue pursuing their goals.
Today’s small wins list:
1) I found out that in Italy they sell Nutella in industrial size containers (see pic). I did not purchase one…and didn’t even purchase one of these giant donuts with Nutalla smeared on it. I did look inside one of the giant Nutella containers. But for less than 2 minutes.
 2) The rate at which I am gaining weight on my diet is actually slower than the rate at which I normally gain weight.
3) Although the shirt I’m wearing today does feel too tight for me to wear at my current weight, my pants feel OK. (Note: I had the pants taken out recently, so not as hopeful a sign as I might first want to believe).
4) No one has refused to serve me in any of the Italian restaurants because they feared, like an intoxicated alcoholic, “ I had eaten enough already and needed a cab to drive me home.”
5) I considered trying to slyly pretend my “start weight” was higher than it really was so I could at least pretend I had lost weight and not be humiliated by Jonathan Miller beating me. But chose not to try to slyly adjust my weight. (Note: my actual start weight was 193).
6) Since my start weight was 208, I’ve already dropped 14 pounds to 194! (Note: I changed my mind about #5 after dinner tonight).
7) Felt guilty about adjusting weight and, after walking up to Fitness Area got motivated to come clean about #6 being false.
8) I’m not giving up yet! I’m still in this competition.
9) Decided to adjust my goal from losing 15 pounds (or at least 10) to 15 pounds (or at least 7) but only changed one of the two weight goals and initially was tempted to change both and drop second goal to 5. But didn’t.
10) This is Day 5 and can’t last forever. However long it does last, at least 5 of the days are over with.
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Diet update.
Two days of solid progress can be undermined by giving into an instant of temptation.
Remember the hotel relapse scene in the movie Flight, when Denzel Washington, a rabid alcoholic on the wagon for a few days, discovers the miniature vodka bottle in his hotel mini bar?
 He pulls it out and looks at it longingly for a moment. And sternly sits it back on the fridge. And leaves.
And returns seconds later to go on a bender of a lifetime that destroys Denzel’s character and two hotel rooms.
Well, after two days of disciplined dieting and constructive preparation for working out, I had my own “moment” this morning.
At breakfast, before I even realized what I was doing, I caught a glimpse of my dear old friend. Stashed it in my breast pocket furtively….and swore it would be between me and my Facebook post but I’d never breath a word about it to anyone else. I’m staring now….and I’m walking away. Like Denzel Washington in that movie.
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#TEAMRP
 Ouch.
But a good ouch.
I woke up Saturday morning after my first workout session with Josh the day before, and I could feel it in my legs.
A good hurt.
It’s been a while since I felt that way.
Over the past few years, I have felt many times a bad hurt — my bulging disk clamping down on the nerve that runs through my left leg, causing me serious pain, the kind of pain that kept me up nights.
Since I fixed that problem though medical treatment and yoga stretching, I’ve been pain-free, cautiously exercising to ensure that I don’t trigger my disk problems again. But that kind of cautious exercise does little to keep me in optimal shape.
Enter Josh. During our first session, we did no cardio, no weightlifting — just a bunch of stretching and exercises where I used my body weight to train and tone. And boy it worked — I hurt. But in a good way.
I will keep you updated as the training continues. And hopefully be able to provide a “AFTER” picture that looks better than the “BEFORE” picture above, and doesn’t involve a body cast.
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Dec 17, 2012 at 11:00 AM ET
Since the horrible tragedy in Connecticut on Friday, I’ve been seeing the picture above shared by hundreds of my Facebook and Twitter friends.
While I share the sentiment, I’m curious about something: If indeed 42 people were killed “last year” in “West Germany,” what are the figures “last year” for the Soviet Union?
Or Transjordan?
Or New Amsterdam?
Or Gaul?
Seriously, this country, I hope, approaches a desperately needed and vigorous debate on gun control in the country, let’s make sure that we have our facts straight. I’m confident that the real data is still powerful.
By RP Staff, on Thu Dec 13, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET In a week in which rumors were being circulated by well-respected Frankfort political insiders that The RP might be a candidate for U.S. Congress in Kentucky’s 6th District, The Recovering Politician has been leaked an incriminating picture of The RP, photographed next to a dead Hooker.
Hopefully, this will put to rest all rumors of The RP’s candidacy, allowing him next summer to defend his final table finish at the World Series of Poker, be made a fool on on national TV shows such as his recent appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and pontificate on controversial subjects such as marriage equality and marijuana legalization.
We now return to our regular programming…
UPDATE 9:16 AM
The RP (Jonathan Miller) issued an official statement on The Recovering Politician‘s huge scoop this morning:
I furiously deny ever knowingly having a picture taken of myself next to a dead Hooker. Perhaps it was a drug-induced blackmail plot by the Corleone family. More likely, it was a bad photo-shop job of my face on a picture distributed by “Weird Al” Yankovic.
 Regardless, under no circumstances will I be running for Congress next year, or for any elected office in the near future. Indeed, the earliest I ever would run would be the later of my turning 60, or my hair turning the “silver fox” gray color of our incumbent Governor. (See picture at right.)
Simply put, while I cherish my nearly two decades in the arena, I have never been happier than in the two years since I left.
The pressure inside the political bubble to constantly prepare for the next campaign is extraordinary — I can remember feeling like my life would have no meaning unless I moved up the political ladder.
Now safely outside, I chuckle at my younger self. There is so much more to life than politics. And there are so many opportunities to serve the public and my community without the burdens of being part of a broken system. And most importantly — the quality and quantity time I spend now with my wife, daughters, friends and family is simply invaluable and deeply cherished.
And all of them believe me about the picture with the dead Hooker. At least I hope so.
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Dec 12, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
#TeamJYB3:
I have never been to Italy in my 49 years on this planet. (Not that I have spent time on any other planet. I may have…and just not be aware of it. The point is when I say, “I have never been to Italy before in my 49 years on this planet” what I’m saying is that I’ve never been to Italy. Ever. Just a more dramatic way of sayi ng it. (Note: That’s not really true. I once spent several hours in Italy while traveling abroad about 30 years ago. But you get the point. Really, for all intents and purposes, I’ve never spent any time in Italy.)
Until today. I like it here. The people are like the French (they have style and flair for food and fashion) but they are nice too. And don’t pretend to not know how to speak English when they really do.
I don’t speak Italian. But I am learning to speak English with an Italian accent (e.g. Can-ah I-ah have-ah some-ah spaghetti-ah, please-ah? I am-ah on-ah diet-ah to, um, ah, how do you say…mmm, lose-ah 15 pounds-ah (or at least-ah 10). Or…..emmmm, if you would say here in-ah Italy I am going to lose 6.8 Kilograms (or at a least-ah 4.5 kilograms)
As for details of the diet today, it is thoroughly unimpressive.
So bad, in fact, I wondered briefly if the challenge from Jonathan Miller was exclusive to the United States and might exclude weight gaining (or losing) activities when traveling abroad, i.e. eating. In other words, if I have lost 3/10ths of a pound in the US since the challenge but gain 3 pounds in Italy, upon returning to US I would still be considered as having lost 3/10ths of a pound. I have submitted this inquiry and am awaiting an answer. I’ve also asked if that is not the case but since gaining 3 pounds in Italy is viewed as 1.4 kilogram here, the net gain (I’m arguing) should be 1.1 pounds rather than 2.7 pounds. It’s just simpler than having to do a lot of back and forth converting.
 We treat 1 Euro as about the same as 1 dollar. We should, I am arguing, do the same with the kilogram and pound. Both for simplicity sake and the larger issue of improving US and European relations. And to allow me to eat as much awesome Italian food as I want but only being penalized for about 40% of it. It’s a classic win-win-win.
Note: I did not eat ANY of these deserts. Just took a picture of them. Except I did purchase the desert on the top upper right.
But did NOT eat the entire cannoli. Just a small part of it. Perhaps several small parts of it. But not all. Promise.
===
#TeamRP
 I’m not a big fan of dieting. Too often, they don’t work; or if there is a temporary effect, it is immediately reversed after the diet concludes. Additionally, “dieting” reminds me too much of what teenage girls call the rationalization of an eating disorder.
However, my literary agent passed me on a book from another of her clients. In The Dukan Diet, Dr. Pierre Dukan offers a new nutrition paradigm that involves a lot of protein and an much lighter dose of carbs and sugar. While similar in theory to the Atkins’ plans, this version is supposedly much more responsible and can lead to healthier lifestyle habits.
Anyone in the RP Nation familiar with Dukan? Any other suggestions?
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Dec 12, 2012 at 1:30 PM ET The Daily Iowan published an op-ed from The RP about No Labels. Here’s an excerpt:
You may have more in common with your member of Congress than you think, especially around this time of year. Students and lawmakers alike want to finish up the year and head home for the holidays. But there’s a final exam standing between Congress and the holidays — and America’s citizens are ready to give the body an “F” if it doesn’t pass.
That exam is coming in the form of the “fiscal cliff” — the combination of arbitrary, automatic, across-the-board spending cuts and tax increases coming at the end of the year that could cripple the economy. It all started last year when Congress picked 12 of its members to try to find a deal to secure America’s long-term financial future. Consumer confidence had dropped dramatically, and a credit ratings agency dropped our country’s rating.
It seemed the only thing that could make members of both parties work across the aisle was an alternative so terrible it would be untenable to both parties.
The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that if we do not avoid the fiscal cliff, the $7 trillion combination of spending cuts and tax increases could send the economy hurtling back into recession for years to come. Unemployment, especially among young people, will rise even further. Education will suffer among the harshest spending cuts, losing about $4.8 billion in funding.
Click here to read the full column.
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Dec 12, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET
As we fast approach the fiscal cliff, The RP has dedicated his latest column in The Huffington Post to rallying Americans behind No Labels’ demands for leadership by our elected officials.
Here’s an excerpt:
The last couple of weeks have been littered with false starts and steps backward in fiscal cliff negotiations. America needs its leaders to find a solution now more than ever, but real leaders have not yet emerged from the Capitol or the White House.
The American people are tired of short-term solutions that fail to solve any actual problems. We need real leadership in this country that can find a way to get things done.
Right now our leaders are unable to bridge the partisan divide that keeps government from solving problems. That’s why No Labels, a movement of more than 600,000 Democrats, Republicans, and independents who want to end congressional gridlock, calls for five principles of leadership to be present in the fiscal cliff negotiations. These principles are:
1. Tell the people the full truth. In order for Americans to make informed decisions, we need to know the details — all of them. If our lawmakers don’t tell us the enormity of the problems we face, how can we begin to solve them? When telling us the truth, lawmakers have to agree on the facts. There can’t be two different sets of numbers in the search for solutions. It was Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan who said that while every man is entitled to his own opinions, he is not entitled to his own facts.
2. Govern for the future. If we can’t find solutions to our economic issues, we put our potential for growth and opportunity at stake. America’s tradition of upward mobility and ingenuity is threatened by our lingering economic uncertainty. If we want to convince the rest of the world that we are still a leader, we must prove that we can overcome the petty partisan issues and take control of our fate.
Click here to read the full column.
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Dec 11, 2012 at 5:00 PM ET The RP just sent out this email to the No Labels troops. We encourage you to join them:
 It’s urgent: On Sunday, President Obama and Speaker Boehner met face-to-face for the first time in 23 days. With our leaders not even sitting down with each other regularly, how can they find a solution to the fiscal cliff?
Last week, we told Washington to park the planes, stop the trains — get the job done. The fiscal cliff is too big of a problem to let political point scoring get in the way of problem solving.
Add your name to the thousands calling for our leaders to park the planes, stop the trains and get the job done — Click here to SIGN ON NOW.
Together, we’ll make sure our leaders stop the political games and get to work in Washington.
Thanks for all you do.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Tue Dec 11, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET The first round of the RP Playoffs has concluded and 5-seed Show-Me-Mules and 3-seed RP Tittles have advanced to the semi-finals. 4-seed The Dirty Diapers and 6-seed The Bungals will play for 5th place. The byes passed and this coming week we will see league leaders Team Unibrow and Targaryen 2012 get back in action.
In the Consolation bracket Augies squeaked by Quaker Country by the tiniest of margins, .12 points to be exact. On the opposite side of the spectrum Bandits absolutely crushed WOMBATS 122-59. This week Powerful Lobbyists and Fighting Mongooses will attempt to salvage their seasons with a Consolation victory.
Overall it was a good week to be a recovering politician as our fearless leader, Michael Steele, and Rod Jetton all advanced to the next round. Only two week left! Who you got?
Championship
Consolation
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Dec 10, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET Love this, from The Huffington Post, a North Bend, WA couple marrying on the first day of Washington State’s new marriage equality regime:
According to US News, Larry Duncan, 56, a retired psychiatric nurse, and Randell Shepherd, 48, a computer programmer, of North Bend, Wash., have been together 11 years. They wore the matching outfits as a “fashion statement.”
“We were at a party and we met eyes and fell in love,” Duncan said to the news source.
“He came up and asked me out, and I said yes,” Shepherd added
Click here to read their full story.
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